Following the outcome of elections to five state assemblies, market analysts have predicted a positive opening for the Indian equity markets on Tuesday.

With the BJP set to return to power in Uttar Pradesh (UP) after 15 years and the Congress gaining the lead in Punjab, market observers were of the view that the victory of the BJP in UP has great political importance and would infuse positive sentiments in the domestic bourses.

"Considering the fact that its a thumping victory for the BJP, it will be a positive opening for the equity markets. UP is a standout state and politically most important. It will be giving a lot of political equity to the government and this is going to be positive for the markets," Anindya Banerjee, Associate Vice President for Currency Derivatives with Kotak Securities, said on Saturday.

"We can see a gap up opening in the Nifty — possibly 100 points plus. However, there will be a gap down for the dollar/rupee, possibly at the 66.30-40 levels (indicating strengthening of rupee at the opening level)," he added.

In the state elections, the BJP — that heads the ruling NDA at the Centre — swept UP and Uttarakhand, while running neck-and-neck with the Congress in Goa and Manipur. In Punjab, the Congress was headed for a two-third majority.

According to Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, a spurt is expected in the equities markets post the assembly election results, especially the UP poll results. 

"With the UP mandate, the government may further be emboldened to work towards reforms in all realms of the government which will lead to structural changes in the country over the next seven years," Desai said.

"The rally might propel the NSE Nifty above 9,000 points mark or 120 points upward movement."

Market analysts also pointed out that the sustainability of the impact of the assembly results on the equity markets will depend on a number of global factors such as the outcome of the US Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) meet on whether or not to raise interest rates.

Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said: "The election results are likely to under deliver in terms of positive surprise as the expectations for the final seat share is not much off from what the markets were pricing in on Friday." 

"Having said that, next week — shortened due to Monday's holiday — will have its own dynamics, and a knee-jerk upside on Tuesday cannot be ruled out. But it's sustainability purely based on the verdict is doubtful especially with the rate decisions of a flurry of central banks, including FOMC."

On Friday, the benchmark indices had closed with marginal gains on the back of a strong rupee, coupled with fresh inflow of foreign funds and positive global cues.

The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed at 8,934.55 points — up 7.55 points or 0.08 per cent. 

Similarly, the barometer 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE rose by 17.10 points or 0.06 per cent to close at 28,946.23 points.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday won all nine assembly seats in Agra and four of five assembly seats in Mathura.

Defeating his nearest rival by around 43,000 votes, Jagan Prasad Garg will represent BJP in the Agra North assembly constituency for the fifth time.

Ram Pratap Singh won by a margin of 46,000 votes from the Etmadpur constituency.

GS Dharmesh in Agra Cantonment and Yogendra Upadhyaya from Agra South constituencies both trounced Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidates.

After joining the BJP at the last minute, former member of the Samajwadi Party (SP) Rani Pakshalika Singh won from Bah constituency. 

From Fatehpur Sikri, Choudhary Uday Bhan Singh won by a huge margin while in Agra Rural BJP's Hemlata Diwakar defeated BSP's Kali Charan Suman. Rajendra Singh from SP was defeated by Jintendra Verma in Fatehabad assembly constituency.

Of the nine successful candidates, two are women.

Before the elections, poll pundits gave only two seats to the BJP.

Agra — considered the 'dalit capital of north India' — had five BSP MLAs out of the nine in the previous assembly. Mayawati was banking heavily on support from Agra.

In Mathura, four of the five assembly seats have gone to the Bharatiya Janata Party. The lone BSP victor from Maant is Shyam Sundar Sharma, who won by a close margin of a few hundred votes.

Of key interest is national spokesperson of the BJP Shrikant Sharma, who is being seen as a chief ministerial candidate. Though initially there was resistance to his candidature as he was considered an outsider, Sharma won by a huge margin.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday created history with a thumping two-third majority in Uttar Pradesh and bagged Uttarakhand too while being neck and neck in competition with Congress in Goa and Manipur in the country's biggest mandate since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. And, the grand old party-Congress returned to power in Punjab after a 10-year gap with a clear majority.

An ecstatic BJP termed the poll results a "historic" verdict that will leave a huge impact on the Indian political scenario even as the Congress party's top leaders, including former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, admitted they were stunned by the scale of the verdict in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

From being the third largest group in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly, the BJP, powered by an aggressive campaign mostly spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, catapulted to winning a whopping 324 seats — a never-before show by any party in UP.

"The historic mandate given to the BJP will give a new direction to Indian politics. It will end the politics of caste, dynasty (Parivarvaad) and appeasement," BJP President Amit Shah said in his victory speech. The BJP, he added, would form governments in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.

BJP's victory left the ruling Samajwadi Party and its ally Congress with just 55 seats while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was left with a mere 19 seats. While Samajwadi Party Chief, the outgoing Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav promptly resigned, BSP leader Mayawati attributed the rout to the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) which she alleged were tampered with.

The Congress suffered an equally humiliating defeat in neighbouring Uttarakhand too. The BJP ousted it from power, winning 57 of the 70 seats, some of the winners being disgruntled Congress veterans who had joined the saffron outfit before the elections.

The Congress was left with just 11 legislators, with outgoing Chief Minister Harish Rawat losing both the seats he contested from, one narrowly, to his BJP opponents.

"It is a monumental setback. We are disappointed with Uttar Pradesh," Congress spokesman Sanjay Jha said. Added Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit, "Our party is looking confused."

But other party leaders rushed to defend Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, saying he alone should not be blamed for the party's defeat in Uttar Pradesh.

BJP-ruled Goa, however, appeared headed for a hung assembly, with both the Congress and the BJP claiming they will form the government in the coastal state.

The Congress inched towards becoming the single largest party in the 40-member house winning 18 seats while the BJP had netted 14. The balance of power now lay in the hands of smaller parties including Goa Forward and the MGP. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was unable to win even a single seat.

With 26 winners, the Congress also led the BJP (22 winners) in the troubled northeastern state of Manipur that it rules. But with both groups falling short of a majority in the 60-member house, smaller parties will play a key role in government formation.

The Congress had plenty to celebrate in Punjab where it returned to power comfortably after a decade in the opposition, crushing both the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine as well as the AAP that was confident of winning in the border state.

Led by former Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh, who turned 75 on Saturday, the Congress won as many as 77 of the 117 seats, leaving the AAP with just 22 seats but as the main opposition in the assembly. The Akalis and BJP won just 18 seats, with as many as 10 ministers defeated in the battle of votes.

Prime Minister Modi telephoned Capt Amarinder Singh to congratulate him on the huge victory. The AAP, which had invested heavily in Punjab, licked its wounds, its leaders saying they would introspect to know what went wrong.

In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP's success rate enveloped both urban and rural areas and appeared to demolish traditional caste equations. BJP candidates won in all major cities including Lucknow, Allahabad, Kanpur and Varanasi, Modi's Lok Sabha constituency.

While the Congress fared not so badly in Rae Bareli, it took a drubbing in Amethi, Rahul Gandhi's Lok Sabha seat.

BJP leader Yogi Adityanath told IANS: "Good work done by the Modi government and (BJP President) Amit Shah's strategy has paid dividends."

(With inputs from agencies)

While the credibility of exit polls are often questioned, in this election to five state assemblies, they have largely been accurate though with a few misses. 

Sample this: Most of the exit polls including those by AXIS, Today's Chanakya, VMR, MRC, CSDS, etc., predicted that BJP will win seats in the range of 164-285 and form the government in Uttar Pradesh. As it turns out, BJP is not only set to form the government in the state but with a thumping majority, bagging a whopping 324 seats out of the total 403, a victory which not even the BJP cadres imagined. 

In the case of SP-Congress Alliance, the exit polls had predicted seats in the range of 88-169. But in the final tally, the alliance could only get 57 seats, a number far less than predicted. Also, BSP was predicted to win anything between 60-90 seats and it could manage only 20 seats. 

In the case of Punjab, while some of the exit polls had predicted a victory for Congress, many others had said it could be either a hung house, since Punjab was witnessing a triangular contest for the first time between Aam Aadmi Party, BJP-SAD and Congress, or it could be neck and neck competition between AAP and Congress. However, one thing that the exit polls got right in  Punjab was that the ruling SAD-BJP alliance will finish a third.  After a gap of ten years, Congress is all set to make a comeback winning 77 seats, a clear majority. 

In Uttarakhand, only one of the exit polls had predicted a clear majority for BJP while the rest had predicted close competition between BJP and the ruling Congress. In the results announced today, BJP swept Uttarakhand with 57 seats while Congress finished a distant second with just 11 seats. 

In Goa, the exit polls had predicted seats in the range of 15-23 in the ruling party, BJP'S kitty compared to the Congress. The results announced today saw Congress winning 19 seats while BJP was a close second with 14 seats. Surprisingly, the polls were silent on AAP winning any seat in the coastal state and the party actually did not open its account in Goa. 

In Manipur, the exit polls were largely divided over who will get a clear majority with most of the polls predicting 17-36 seats for BJP and 16-31 seats for the Congress and the remaining for the regional parties. Results show that both BJP and Congress are likely to stake claim to form the government after winning 21 and 26 seats respectively.

The Uttarakhand election results has given a major blow to the political career of Harish Rawat. By suffering defeat from two seats and failing to help Congress excel in the Uttarakhand Assembly elections, Rawat will face an uphill task to maintain his supremacy in the party.

Rawat enjoyed complete dominance on selecting candidates for state assembly polls. Despite complain of corruptions and TV sting operation proving this, the Congress backed the Uttarakhand Chief Minister in difficult times. Even when nine Congress MLAs revolted, Congress stood behind Rawat. The party had deep trust in its senior leader from the hills.

Congress fought the Uttarakhand Assembly polls asking the public to provide ‘Harda’ (brother Harish) full five years. The whole exercise failed and Congress was reduced to 11 seats in the 70 member state assembly. The worst ever performance by Congress in Uttarakhand polls.

Harish Rawat will be 70 next month. Though the Chief Minister is physically fit but the CBI case, for horse trading, will trouble Rawat in coming days. With so many unfriendly people in BJP, which Rawat had created through his arrogance, the Uttarakhand chief minister will find the going difficult. Even in Congress a section is against Rawat and the humiliating defeat will provoke them for providing little space for Harish to occupy a dominating position in the party.

Bhang ki thandai – is unquestionably the favourite Holi drink. With an intoxicating taste, it enhances the playful mood of this colourful festive occassion.

Here is an easy recipe to make it at home. Enjoy the festival with full fervour.

Serves: 20

Preparation time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

Milk 2 litres (Full cream)

Almonds 2 tbsp (blanched and skinned)

Cashew nuts 2 tbsp (chopped)

Pistachio 3 tbsp (chopped)

Aniseed ½ tbsp

Poppy seeds 1/2tbsp

Melon seeds 1 ½ tsp (dried and skinned)

Small green cardamom 1 tbsp (crushed)

Whole black peppercorns ½ tsp

Sugar 2 cups

Cannabis 10

Dried rose petals 1 tbsp

Saffron Few strands

Method:

Heat 1 ½ litres of milk in a big pan and dissolve sugar in it.

Bring to a boil and keep aside.

Soak all other ingredients in ½ litres of milk for two hours.

Process them in a food processor along with milk to make a fine paste.

Strain the paste and extract the liquid in a clean container till the residue becomes completely dry. You may add little water to make the straining process easy and effective.

Add this strained paste in the sweetened milk and mix well with the help of handy mixer.

Refrigerate it for three to four hours.

Serve chilled. Garnish with few chopped nuts and saffron strand.

Get set to party with this savoury drink, play with colours, get painted, groove to the music, dance and revel hard in the spirit of holi. Holi Hai!

Himachal Pradesh's popular tourist destinations Shimla and Manali on Saturday received more snowfall, with the state capital recording a minimum temperature of 0.4 degrees Celsius.

While Shimla saw a mild spell of snowfall, upper areas like Narkanda, Jubbal, Kotkhai and Khada Pathar experienced moderate snowfall, according to a Met official here. Manali also received moderate snow.

Other hill stations like Chail, Kasauli, Barog, Dharamsala and Palampur experienced rainfall.

"The entire belt in Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti, Kullu and Chamba districts witnessed moderate snowfall," a weatherman said.

Keylong, the headquarter town of Lahaul and Spiti district, was coldest at a minimum temperature of minus 5.1 degrees Celsius.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded a low of minus four degrees Celsius, while it was 6.6 degrees in Dharamsala and minus 0.6 degrees in Manali.

The Met Department's forecast said the western disturbances — storm systems originating from the Caspian Sea and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region — would start withdrawing on Monday.

Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has resigned from his position following BJP’s poor show in the Goa Assembly election 2017. Parsekar himself failed to retain his own seat in Madrem constituency.

The CM submitted his resignation to Governor Mridula Sinha, who accepted it. Parsekar was beaten by congress candidate Dayanand Sopte by over 7,000 votes.

Congress is leading in Goa with 18 seats, with BJP trailing with 14 seats.

In a surprise move, leading auction house Christies is all set to discontinue its annual sales in India as a part of its broader strategy to consolidate operations around the world.

"Christie's continues to adapt to meet the needs of our clients and plan for the future as every business must," Guillaume Cerutti, Chief Executive Officer, Christie's, informed IANS in an email.

"Following our success in leading the development of online-only art sales and growing our global client base through our investments in Asia and other regions, we are considering shifting more sales into our key regional hubs and online. Christie's will remain ahead and we will stay the leading business for our clients if we are adaptable, relevant and focused on our clients.

"We continue to welcome new talent to our firm and execute successful sales as evidenced by Christie's achieving the strongest selling rates in the market last week during our major London auctions. I am committed to investing in our expansion, our culture and our team," Cerutti added. 

It is expected that auctions of Indian modern and contemporary art will now take place internationally, in London and New York.

While Christie's is looking at cutting its costs in India, major investments are likely to flow in the online segment as the auction house's online-only sales in 2016 increased 106 per cent. 

The firm also witnessed a 39 per cent increase in its buyers from America and is thus likely to focus more on such markets. 

The international specialist team based in Mumbai will continue to work together on these auctions and will serve the clients "in new and more appropriate ways".

Christie's has also confirmed that it is undertaking a "global review" to adapt its activities "to better serve" the evolving art market, growing "international client base" and "enabling ongoing investment" in the company's digital art sales platform.

The Mumbai office of Christie's was set up in 1994 and will remain in its present location. This office will now serve as the window for the firm's regional clients to the world market of Christie's.

One of the leading players in the art business, Christie's first annual sale in India took place in December 2013 and raised the bar for art auctions in India. It doubled its pre-sale expectations with a total of Rs 96,59,37,500.

With this sale Christie's pioneered in the Indian art space, becoming the only international auction house to hold annual sales in India. Every year since then, new records were made and fresh segments were added to their catalogue.

A review will also be conducted to the sales calendar in Amsterdam to focus on 20th Century Art sales as well as to consolidate South Asian Art auctions in New York and London.

"Yearly we will be holding three stand-alone sales for South Asian Art — two in New York and one in London, as we did for the past 25 years," the auction house said.

The announcement has been made as part of a broader strategy to consolidate operations around the world.

In the wake of Samajwadi Party's election debacle, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday submitted his resignation to governor Ram Naik and said he accepts the people's mandate.

The governor has accepted his resignation and asked him to continue till the next government takes over.

Earlier in the evening during a media briefing, Akhilesh said that he hopes the coming government works better than his government in Uttar Pradesh. He said that no one can predict what happens in politics.

Speaking on Mayawati's allegations of rigged elections, he said that he will use his own sources to know more about the issue.

Appearing a little humbled but jovial, Akhilesh maintained his poise he took quite a few questions in jest.

The Bharatiya Janata Party swept the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, defeating the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance.

Captain Amarinder Singh’s leadership appears to have proved decisive in Punjab Assembly elections as it helped the
Congress become the only alternative for the change seeking voters.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which had initially gained momentum in the state failed to sustain it as AAP failed provide a face to lead its campaign. The exit of the many senior AAP leaders in the run up to elections also dented the party’s image and created confusion in its supporters.

Capt Amarinder, the Congress’ chief ministerial candidate, on the hand took charge of the party’s  campaign and succeeded in lifting themorale of party workers to take on the mighty Shiromani Akali Dal-Bhartiya Janta Party (SAD-BJP) combine.

Sailing on the Modi wave, BJP scored the biggest ever Assembly election win in Uttarakhand. The experiment of the Congress to fight election on the face of Chief Minister Harish Rawat, whose image had taken a nosedive after the tv news sting operations, flopped badly. BJP won 56 seat – the biggest ever haul by any party ever in the history of Uttarakhand. Congress managed to secure 11 seats and independents two seats in the 70 member state Assembly. 

Proving a major blow to Congress, Harish Rawat lost from both the Haridwar rural and Kiccha Assembly seats. Even State Congress president Kishore Upadhyay failed to win from Sehaspur. Uttarakhand BJP chief Ajay Bhatt was the prominent loser for BJP. Even the experiment of involving PK for election campaign by Congress for Uttarakhand polls failed miserably. 

Most of the Rawat cabinet minister-including forest minister Dinesh Aggarwal, education minister Mantri Prasad Naithani, health minister Surinder Negi- lost. The Congress headquarters in Dehradun wore a deserted look while the BJP office became hub of all the action. BJP supporters began cracking crackers and distributing sweets as the party took an unprecedented lead.  

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat met Uttarakhand Governor K.K Paul in Dehradun on Saturday and submitted his resignation. Accepting the resignation, Uttarakhand Governor has asked Rawat to work as acting Chief Minister till the formation of the new government. 

Taking a stand alike BSP chief Mayawati, Harish Rawat made a satirical comment, “I also want to congratulate ’Modi Kranti’ (revolution) and EVM ‘Chamatkar‘.”  

The poll results shocked Rawat as even till Saturday morning he was repeating his claim of Congress forming government on its own in Uttarakhand by winning 45 seats. 

Rawat should take a major chunk of the blame for the Congress debacle, as his self centered style of functioning force senior party leaders to abandon the grand old party. The politics of Rawat hit Congress hard, as the party ran out of faces in the Uttarakhand polls. BJP took full advantage of the Congress infighting and provided many turncoats the party symbol.

Even this experiment paid and out of a 10 turncoats, eight were successful in winning from their seats. Congress rebels including Kedar Rawat, Subodh Uniyal, Umesh Sharma Kau, Kunwar Pranab Champion, Harak Singh Rawat, Rekha Arya, Yashpal Arya and Satpal Maharaj won to provide further strength to the saffron party in Uttarakhand. Ex-Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna’s son Saurav Bahuguna and Yashpal Arya’s son Sanjeev Arya registered win from their seats. Both the leaders left Congress due to their differences with Harish Rawat and his corrupt functioning. 

The Modi magic worked in the hills by attracting every section of people. The most surprising of all was the shift of Dalit vote bank in BJP‘s favour. Which helped the saffron party register win in many seats- where they were not expecting win.

The Punjab Assembly poll results on Friday brought a mixed bag of joy and sorrow for some prominent politicos. While some of them managed to retain their strongholds others faced people's ire through the ballot.

The outgoing chief minister Parkash Singh Badal defeated Congress chief ministerial candidate Captain Amarinder Singh with a margin of 22,770 votes. However, Captain Amarinder, who also celebrated his 75th birthday on Saturday, retained his home turf Patiala Assembly seat after defeating Aam Adami Party (AAP) candidate Dr Balbir Singh in a one sided tussle. Captain Amarinder won the seat with a margin of 52, 407 votes. Also, Cricketer-turned-politician, Navjot Singh Sidhu, who joined Congress just few days before Assembly polls, defeated his Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) counterpart, Rajesh Kumar Honey with a massive margin of 42,809 votes from the Amritsar east seat.

Punjab's deputy chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal won from Jalalabad seat. He defeated, stand-up-comedian-turned-politician and AAP candidate Bhagwant Mann by a margin of 18,500 votes. Likewise, SAD candidate Bikram Singh Majithia won the Majitha seat by defeating his nearest rival, Congress candidate Sukhjinder Raj Singh Lally by 22,884 votes. On the other hand, a Congress heavyweight and former Punjab chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal lost to SAD candidate and cabinet minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa with 26,815 votes from the Lehra Assembly seat. Congress leader of opposition in the Assembly, Charanjit Singh Channi has defeated AAP candidate Charanjit Singh with 12,308 votes from Chamkaur Sahib Assembly seat. Another Congress heavyweight Manpreet Singh Badal won from the Bathinda Urban seat, defeating AAP candidate Deepak Bansal by 18,480 votes. 

Congress candidate and former Indian Hockey captain Pargat Singh retained his Jalandhar Cantt seat by defeating Akali candidate Sarabjit Singh Makkar by 29,124 votes. Punjab cabinet minister Anil Joshi lost his Amritsar north seat to Congress party's Sunil Dutti by 6,497 votes. AAP candidate and noted Supreme Court lawyer H S Phoolka won from Dakha seat, defeating his nearest rival Akali candidate Manpreer Singh Ayali by 4,169 votes. From Abohar constituency, Congress heavyweight Sunil Jakhar lost to BJP candidate Arun Narang by 3,279 votes. Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) leaders, Balwinder Singh Bains and Simarjit Singh Bains, famously known as Bains brothers also have won from two different seats in Ludhiana. Sucha Singh Chhotepur, founder of Apna Punjab Party (APP) lost his Gurdaspur seat to Congress candidate. Punjab AAP convener Gurpreet Singh Waraich has also lost his Batala seat.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who lost both the assembly seats he contested, submitted his resignation on Saturday to Governor KK Paul and attributed the party's 'poor' show in the state polls to 'flaws in his own leadership'.

"I own up my failure to rise up to the expectations of my party workers who had worked very hard despite lack of resources," he said after submitting his resignation.

Owning up his failure to guide the party to an impressive performance at the polls, the chief minister said, "I accept that there must have been loopholes in my own leadership which led to the party's dismal showing."

However, the Congress leader will continue to officiate as the chief minister till his successor is sworn-in.

Rawat lost from Kichcha at the hands of BJP's Rajesh Shukla, who won the seat by 2,154 votes. He also lost Haridwar (Rural) seat to BJP's Yatishwaranand by over 12,000 votes.

Rawat thanked the Congress leadership and the party's legal cell for the support extended to him during the polls.

A total of 637 candidates including 56 contested for 70 seats in the Uttarakhand Assembly.

As per the updates available by 5:30pm on counting of votes, the BJP was leading by 57 seats, leaving behind the Congress by 11 seats.

The Meghalaya government has suspended two policemen for firing at three civilians in North Garo Hills district on March 6, a police official said.

The government issued the suspension order against Unarmed Branch Sub Inspector WD Sangma and Constable Umakhanta Rabha on Friday for firing at three civilians, the police official said.

"Sangma and Rabha have been placed under suspension based on the departmental inquiry headed by VDS Rymbai, the assistant commandant of 2nd Meghalaya Police Battalion," the official said.

Three civilians – Milseng Sangma, Tubal Sangma and Janrak Sangma – were injured in the police firing on Resu-Khaldang road. The police fired at them suspecting them to be militants, when they sped through three different police checkpoints despite being signalled to stop.

Chief Minister Mukul Sangma had assured the assembly that the government will institute a judicial inquiry into the police firing.

The Shiv Sena congratulated on Satutday BJP for its stunning victory in Uttar Pradesh and hoped that the Ram temple will now be constructed soon in Ayodhya.

"Ram's period of exile has ended. We now hope that Ram temple will be constructed soon in Ayodhya," Sena MP Sanjay Raut told reporters here.

The ties between the two allies, who fought the recent civic elections separately, have been strained and Sena had often taken a dig at BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the run up to the assembly polls.

"The Assembly results in five states are out. We welcome the win of BJP. We also congratulate the Prime Minister on this victory," he added.

Referring to the Congress' win in Punjab, Raut said that people have voted for a change wherever there was a credible alternative to the incumbent government.

In an apparent reference to the Samajwadi Party and its ally Congress, which lost the Uttar Pradesh polls to BJP, Raut remarked that those who lost the polls will now realise the importance of Shiv Sena and the manner in which it stopped the Modi wave from entering Mumbai.

Samajwadi party president and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav stopped short of taking responsibility for his party’s humiliating defeat in the state elections. Talking to newsmen in Lucknow on Saturday, he said that before owning responsibility for the defeat an analysis of the results was necessary.

Akhilesh Yadav maintained that his government had done good work but “people voted for bullet train” and not the expressway which he had touted as one of his major achievements in the run up to the elections. Akhilesh also said that he would like to see who could do better work than his government.

He said wherever he campaigned he was greeted by huge crowds and now he was wondering for what reason they had come. Akhilesh claimed that though details were awaited the vote share of Samajwadi party had increased but still the party could not win.

However, in spite of putting up a brave face with his characteristic smile, Akhilesh Yadav could not hide his disgust in accepting the people’s verdict, “ samjhaane se vote nahi milta hai, behkhane se milta hai” (explanations do not fetch votes, false promises do)